adapt, and fulfill human aspirations. Technological solutions may create new problems. Science, by its nature, answers questions that may or may not directly influence humans. Sometimes scientific advances challenge people's beliefs and practical explanations concerning various aspects of the world.

• Technological knowledge is often not made public because of patents and the financial potential of the idea or invention. Scientific knowledge is made public through presentations at professional meetings and publications in scientific journals.

As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of

• Personal and community health

• Population growth

• Natural resources

• Environmental quality

• Natural and human-induced hazards

• Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges

The organizing principles for this standard do not identify specific personal and societal challenges, rather they form a set of conceptual organizers, fundamental understandings, and implied actions for most contemporary issues. The organizing principles apply to local as well as global phenomena and represent challenges that occur on scales that vary from quite short—for example, natural hazards—to very long—for example, the potential result of global changes.

By grades 9-12, many students have a fairly sound understanding of the overall functioning of some human systems, such

as the digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems. They might not have a clear understanding of others, such as the human nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. Therefore, students may have difficulty with specific mechanisms and processes related to health issues.

Most high school students have a concept of populations of organisms, but they have a poorly developed understanding of the relationships among populations within a community and connections between populations and other ideas such as competition for resources. Few students understand and apply the idea of interdependence when considering interactions among populations, environments, and resources. If, for example, students are asked about the size of populations and why some populations would be larger, they often simply describe rather than reason about interdependence or energy flow.

Students may exhibit a general idea of cycling matter in ecosystems, but they may center on short chains of the cyclical process

Front Matter (R1-R10)

National Science Education Standards: An Overview (1-10)

1 Introduction (11-18)

2 Principles and Definitions (19-26)

3 Science Teaching Standards (27-54)

4 Standards for Professional Development for Teachers of Science (55-74)

5 Assessment in Science Education (75-102)

6 Science Content Standards (103-208)

7 Science Education Program Standards (209-226)

8 Science Education System Standards (227-242)

Epilogue (243-246)

Appendix (247-253)

Index (254-260)

Credits (261-262)